Google Cloud has intensified its criticism of Microsoft’s cloud computing strategies, claiming that its rival is trying to create a monopoly that would hinder the innovation of new technologies such as generative artificial intelligence.
In an interview with Reuters, Google Cloud Vice President Amit Zavery said that Microsoft was attempting to replicate its past dominance in on-premise software in the cloud computing market, by creating a “walled garden” that is completely controlled and owned by Microsoft.
Zavery said that Microsoft was forcing customers to use its Azure cloud platform for various services, such as collaboration with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, a powerful generative AI chatbot. He said that this would pose problems for the development of next-generation technologies like AI, as well as for the customers’ choice and flexibility.
Zavery urged antitrust regulators to intervene and prevent Microsoft from using its on-premise monopoly to build a cloud monopoly. He said that Microsoft’s cloud practices were not only anti-competitive, but also harmful for the global development and free trade promoted by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Microsoft Dismisses Google’s Claims
Microsoft dismissed Google’s accusations, saying that the competition between cloud providers was healthy and that it was committed to openness and interoperability. A Microsoft spokesperson said that according to the latest independent data, Microsoft and Google made small gains on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which remains the global market leader by a significant margin.
Microsoft President Brad Smith also took a veiled swipe at Google, saying that only one company was vertically integrated in a manner that includes every AI layer from chips to a thriving mobile app store. He was referring to Google’s dominance in the smartphone market with its Android operating system and Google Play store.
Smith made the remarks at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where he also announced a new partnership with Telefonica to offer cloud and edge computing services to businesses in Spain.
A Battle for the Future of Cloud and AI
The clash between Google Cloud and Microsoft is a reflection of the changing dynamics and the fierce competition in the cloud computing market, where the tech giants are vying for customers and market share. Cloud computing has become a huge business, as more and more companies and organizations move their computing and data storage needs to online platforms.
According to market research firm Gartner, the global cloud services market is expected to grow from $491 billion last year to $597.3 billion this year, a 21.7% increase year-over-year, driven by the increased demand for cloud services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cloud computing is also closely linked to the development and adoption of artificial intelligence, which relies on large amounts of data and computing power to perform tasks such as natural language processing, computer vision, and machine learning. AI has become a strategic priority for the tech giants, who are investing heavily in research and innovation, as well as in acquiring or partnering with AI startups.
One of the most prominent examples of this is the collaboration between Microsoft and OpenAI, which started in 2019 with a $1 billion investment from Microsoft, and continued with a multi-billion dollar, multi-year exclusive licensing deal for ChatGPT in 2020. ChatGPT is a generative AI chatbot that can produce coherent and realistic text on various topics, based on a large corpus of data.
However, ChatGPT is not the only generative AI chatbot in the market. Anthropic, a San Francisco-based startup, is developing Claude 2, a rival chatbot that claims to be more ethical and transparent than ChatGPT. Anthropic has attracted investments from Google and Amazon, who are also interested in the potential of generative AI for their cloud services.
The competition between the cloud giants over generative AI is not only about offering better products and services to their customers, but also about shaping the future of AI and its impact on society. Generative AI poses both opportunities and challenges, such as enhancing creativity, personalization, and communication, but also raising ethical, legal, and social issues, such as privacy, bias, and misinformation.
